Rig activity is picking up in Alberta and Saskatchewan

More rigs are going back to work this week in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

On Thursday afternoon, there were 150 active rigs in Western Canada out of a fleet of 669, for a 22 per cent active rate, according to Rig Locator data.

That’s 24 more active rigs than at the close of last week.

There were 90 rigs active in Alberta yesterday, a count not seen since March 1, 2016.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan had 41 active rigs on Thursday, a level not reached since Feb. 8, 2016, or just over six months ago.

Crescent Point Energy Corp. had 19 active rigs on Thursday afternoon, to lead the pack, followed by Tourmaline Oil Corp. with 11 active rigs.

A year ago this week, 200 rigs were active in Western Canada out of a fleet of 755 rigs, for a 26 per cent active rate.

Active rigs on the Rig Locator website are defined as rigs that are drilling, rigging up or moving. (Note: This data differs from the rig counts tracked by the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors, which bases its utilization rates on whether rigs are drilling, which it defines as spud to rig release, or down.)